Tablet arm assembly



Filed June 25. 1965 INVENTOR. JOSEPH H. BRUNSKOLE BY /d?//uf ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,269,772 TABLET ARM ASSEMBLY Joseph H. Brunskole, Rexdale, Ontario, Canada, assignor to Canadian Seating Company Limited, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a company of Canada Filed June 25, 1965, Ser. No. 466,926 4 Claims. (Cl. 297162) This invention relates to tablet arm assemblies attached to chairs and more particularly to a collapsible writing tablet attached to a chair used in lecture rooms and auditoriums having a substantially rigid supporting means thereon and being collapsible to allow storage under the seat of the chair.

In present day lecture and assembly rooms provision of tablet arms on permanently installed chairs is most desirable. It has been found necessary, as a measure of convenience, to install collapsible writing tablets on the chairs to allow free access to each chair in a row. The collapsible tablet arms previously provided have been, however, quite unstable because of unsatisfactory supports and have been relatively difficult to fold and store beside or under the chair.

The writing tablet assembly of the present invention provides a very stable writing surface by way of a support rod seating in a receiving cavity on the arm of the chair to which the tablet is attached, with the support rod being easily removed from the cavity and the writing tablet being readily collapsed beneath the chair.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel combination of writing tablet and supporting chair arm which is stable and easily collapsible.

Another object of the invention is to provide a writing tablet assembly rigidly supported on the arm of the chair to which it is attached and readily stored in an unobstructing manner under the chair seat.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred form of writing tablet assembly embodying the invention, showing also the chair to which the assembly is attached;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational View showing the tablet of FIGURE 1 in the collapsed position and a broken-away portion of the chair; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the tablet arm removed from the chair with the tablet turned on edge prior to collapsing the arm.

The present invention relates to a collapsible writing tablet assembly in combination with a chair to which the assembly is attached. The chair has a fixed arm rest supported by a stationary member forming .a side support for the chair. The tablet has a supporting arm which is pivotally attached to the stationary side support and the tablet-supporting arm has a front bearing member and a rear bearing member integral therewith and projecting outwardly therefrom. A hinge rod is rotatably journalled in the front and rear bearing members and is movable axially therein. The writing tablet is integrally attached to the hinge rod in a manner to allow it to rotatably and axially move with the rod. The hinge rod has a free inner end and the arm rest has a receiving hole therein adapted to receive the free end of the rod by a relatively close fit and to thereby substantially rigidly support the rod and attached tablet arm.

Referring to the drawing, a tablet arm assembly embodying the invention is shown in writing position in FIGURE 1 and in collapsed position in FIGURE 2. The tablet arm is shown removed from the supporting chair in FIGURE 3 with tablet raised on edge. A tablet 11 on the assembly 10 is attached to and carried by a 3,269,772 Patented August 30, 1966 ice supporting arm 12 and the arm 12 is pivotally attached by connection 13 at inner end 14 to an arm supporting member 15 of chair 16. The chair 16 has a fixed arm rest 17 attached to the back of the chair and to the armsupporting member 15.

A front support bearing member 18 and a rear support bearing member 19, integral with the supporting arm 12, project outwardly therefrom and are axially aligned with each other. A hinge rod 20, preferably cylindrical in shape, is rotatably journalled in the front and rear sn port bearings 18 and 19 and the rod 20 is movable axially in the support bearings. The tablet 11 has front and rear support brackets 21 and 22 attached to the underside thereof which are in turn integrally connected to the hinge rod 20, the front bracket 21 being attached to the front end of the hinge rod. A coil spring 23 surrounds the rod 20 and is adapted to hold the Writing tablet 11 biased to the flat position shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.

The hinge rod 20 has a free inner end 24 which seats in a hinge rod receiving hole 25 located on the arm rest 17 of the chair 16. The seating hole 25, preferably cylindrical in shape, is positioned to receive the hinge rod 20 and to hold the tablet 11 substantially aligned with the arm rest 17 as shown in FIGURE 1. Advantageously the receiving hole 25 is lined with an insert 26 of wearresistant material such as nylon. It can be seen that the combination of the pivotal support 13 with the substantially rigid support provided by the arm 17 embracing the hinge rod 24 results in a very stable writing tablet assembly.

The tablet arm assembly 10 is very easily collapsed and stored under the chair seat as shown in FIGURE 2. Referring to FIGURE 1, the tablet 11 is urged forward in the direction of arrow 27 to carry the hinge rod 20 with it and disengage the rod from the arm rest 17. The tablet 11 is then turned, against the resistance of the spring 23, into an edgewise position shown by broken line 28 (see also FIGURE 2), and also illustrated by the position of the tablet in FIGURE 3. The assembly 10 is then lowered in the direction of arrow 29 and allowed to be urged into a flat attitude under the seat of the chair 16, by the action of the spring 23, into the substantially vertical downward position shown by broken lines 30 and also shown by the position of the tablet in FIGURE 2. The writing position of the assembly 10 is shown by broken lines 31 in FIGURE 2. The assembly is returned to the writing position by reversing the process.

Referring to FIGURE 1, it can be seen that the tablet assembly 10 is prevented from being pushed out of the support members 18 and 19 by the spring running against the front bearing support member 18. Referring to FIGURE 3, the tablet is seen to be supported when turned into the writing position by upper surface 32 of the supporting arm 12. The spring 23 is retained against tubular spacer 33, loosely sliding on the hinge rod 20, or alternatively against a collar portion on the rod. Projecting end portion 34 of the spring 23 advantageously bears against the bottom surface of the tablet 11 to urge the tablet to a flat writing position. However, other devices may be utilized to bias the tablet to the fiat position.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A collapsible writing tablet assembly in combination with a chair having a fixed arm rest which compmises an upright stationary arm-supponting member, a chair .arm rest supported at the front end thereof by said arm-supporting member, a tablet supporting arm pivotally attached at the rear end thereof to said arm-supporting member, a front support bearing and a rear support bearing integral with and projecting outwardly from said tablet supporting arm, said front and rear bearings being axially aligned, a hinge rod rotatably journalled in said front and rear support bearings and movably axially therein, front and rear support brackets attached to and integral with said hinge rod, a writing tablet attached to said support brackets, said brackets and writing tablet being adapted to rotatably and axially move with said hinge rod and said hinge rod having a free inner end with the writing tablet in a collapsed position, a hinge rod receiving hole, lined with wear-resistant bearing material, located in the fixed arm rest and adapted to receive the inner end of and support said hinge rod in substantial alignment with said chair arm, and a coil spring located on said hinge rod with a projecting end portion thereon adapted to bias said writing tablet to a flat position.

2. A collapsible writing tablet assembly in combination with a chair having a fixed arm rest which comprises an upright stationary arm-supporting member, a chair arm rest supported at the front end thereof by said armsupporting member, a tablet supporting arm with a pivotal attachment at the rear end thereof to said armsupporting member and rotatable about the pivotal attachment to a substantially vertical downward position, a front support bearing and a rear support bearing integral with and projecting outwardly from said tabletsupporting arm, said front and rear bearings being axially aligned, a hinge rod rotatably journalled in said front and rear support bearings and movable axially therein, front and rear support brackets attached to and integral with said hinge rod, a writing tablet attached to said support brackets, said brackets and writing tablet being adapted to rotatably and axially move with said hinge rod and said hinge rod having a free cylindrical inner end with the writing tablet in a collapsed position, a cylindrical hinge rod receiving hole, lined with wear-resistant bearing material, located in the fixed arm rest and adapted to receive the inner end of and support said hinge rod in substantial alignment with said chair arm, and a coil spring located on said hinge rod with a projecting end portion thereon adapted to bias said writing tablet to a 4 flat writing position on said tablet supporting-arm and to a flat position under the seat of the chair, said hinge rod receiving hole and the inner end of the hinge rod being so arranged to allow the tablet assembly to be urged forward to disengage the hinge rod from the arm rest.

3. A collapsible writing tablet assembly in combination with a chair having a fixed arm rest which comprises an upright stationary arm-supporting member, a chair arm supported thereon, a tablet supporting arm pivotally attached to said arm-supporting member, a front bearing member and a rear bearing member integral with and projecting from said tablet-supporting arm, a hinge rod rotatably journalled in said front and rear bearing members and movable axially therein, a writing tablet attached to said hinge rod in a manner to allow said tablet to rotatably and axially move with said hinge rod, said hinge rod having a free inner end with the writing tablet in a collapsed position, and a hinge rod receiving hole located on said chair arm adapted to receive the inner end of and support said hinge rod in substantial alignment with said chair arm.

4. A collapsible writing tablet assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein a biasing means is associated with the hinge rod and the writing tablet adapted to urge said tablet to a fiat position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,731,293 10/1929 Chapman 297-l62 2,473,037 6/1949 Morgan et al. 297162 3,024,065 3/1962 Eves et al 297l62 3,177,824 4/1965 Onishi 10877 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,322,936 2/1963 France.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

J. T. McCALL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A COLLAPSIBLE WRITING TABLET ASSEMBLY IN COMBINATION WITH A CHAIR HAVING A FIXED ARM REST WHICH COMPRISES AN UPRIGHT STATIONARY ARM-SUPPORTING MEMBER, A CHAIR ARM REST SUPPORTED AT THE FRONT END THEREOF BY SAID ARM-SUPPORTING MEMBER, A TABLET SUPPORTING ARM PIVOTALLY ATTACHED AT THE REAR END THEREOF TO SAID ARM-SUPPORTING MEMBER, A FRONT SUPPORT BEARING AND A REAR SUPPORT BEARING INTEGRAL WITH AND PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID TABLET SUPPORTING ARM, SAID FRONT AND REAR BEARINGS BEING AXIALLY ALIGNED, A HINGE ROD ROTATABLY JOURNALED IN SAID FRONT AND REAR SUPPORT BEARINGS AND MOVABLY AXIALLY THEREIN, FRONT AND REAR SUPPORT BRACKETS ATTACHED TO AND INTEGRAL WITH SAID HINGE ROD, A WRITING TABLET ATTACHED TO SAID SUPPORT BRACKETS, SAID BRACKETS AND WRITING TABLET BEING ADAPTED TO ROTATABLY AND AXIALLY MOVE WITH SAID HINGE ROD AND SAID HINGE ROD HAVING A FREE INNER END WITH THE WRITING TABLET IN A COLLAPSED POSITION, A HINGE ROD RECEIVING HOLE, LINED WITH WEAR-RESISTANT BEARING MATERIAL, LOCATED IN THE FIXED ARM REST AND ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE INNER END OF AND SUPPORT SAID HINGE ROD IN SUBSTANTIAL ALIGNMENT WITH SAID CHAIR ARM, AND A COIL SPRING LOCATED ON SAID HINGE ROD WITH A PROJECTING END PORTION THEREON ADAPTED TO BIAS SAID WRITING TABLET TO A FLAT POSITION. 